Wednesday, January 30, 2013

I was honored to be asked to do a hand lettering piece for the debut issue of Wayfare Magazine - a beautiful new publication "celebrating the art of the journey." The photos & layouts in here are amazing & inspiring - like a little vacation for the eyes & for me, a reminder to go see & explore. We're thinking of taking a trip - toddler & newborn in tow - sometime soon. Hard not to feel the urge to get out, to get away, to see something new (and preferably in the sunshine) when January in NYC rolls around. Here's a little peek inside the Wayfare issue. See more on their website here.

Monday, January 28, 2013

We recently got a new camera and have been having so much fun playing around with it. Bye bye small three year old point n shoot that I thought was good until getting my hands on this new little beast. It's not the lightest thing in the world, but the pics are already worth lugging it around. And we don't even know what we're doing. We have some learning to do, but here are a few of our little babies, four-legged babu included.

Monday, January 21, 2013

She arrived ten days early last Monday, January 14. She is named after John's paternal grandmother Luigia, who was born in Italy and along with John's grandfather, moved to NYC and had John's dad here. Louise is also John's sister's middle name - named after Luigia as well. We decided to give her two middle names: Linda Maria, after both our late mothers. We love these names & the connection to these three strong beautiful women in our families.

We are so thrilled to have a little girl (a girl! I still sorta can't believe it!) and love watching Griffin with his new little sister. I'll try to post some more pics soon - in between naps, feedings & poopy diapers.

This week marked the 15th anniversary of my mom's passing. I was telling a friend that after years of being sad for myself, of missing her for me, that in recent years, I have felt more sad for my mom - for her missing out on seeing her four kids through college, seeing all of us get married and being a grandmother to eight (going on nine) grandchildren. My friend sent me this poem, above, - a beautiful & simple reminder for me that while she is not here physically, she is very much here. Another friend who lost his dad a few years ago told me that he actually likes when people ask about him, that he likes talking about him. I feel the same way. I love talking about my mom & dad. And the more I do, the more I really do feel them here.

One of Griffin's Christmas gifts was a Names & Places Book with photos of people we love, including three of his grandparents who are no longer living. He can quickly identify them by name, which is a good start. And because we've told him, he knows Farmor made the blanket he sleeps with. As he gets older, it'll be even more important for us to keep talking about them so that he and his soon-to-be brother or sister know them as they know anyone living - that his Farmor, Pop & Grandma Linda are just as familiar, present, here.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

To me, Wedding Save the Dates should just give you a little glimpse, a little taste of what's to come - without any Big Day restrictions. The color, the imagery, the text, even the form (online or in print) are all up for grabs when it comes to the Save the Date. I have some new Save the Dates up on Paperless Post right now that could be used for many different types of weddings, but the vibe is simply lighthearted. I think this Hip Hip Hooray Save the Date above is my favorite. It serves its purpose (mark your calendars!) and has fun doing it.

See all of the L&H Wedding (or any occasion worth saving, really) Save the Dates for Paperless Post here. (Most are available in PAPER as well.)

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

As you may know from me saying it before, I love notepads. I'm a big list maker. (Really, what woman isn't? What mom isn't?) And while I also use my online Teux Deux list, when I'm not online (and with a new baby two weeks away, I hope not to be!) I much prefer writing out my list by hand. Probably because I find the act of crossing it off from left to right - a big line striking through the words - to be far more satisfactory than clicking a checkbox or a trashcan icon. Maybe that's just me.

Anyway - we've got four new notepads: 2 quilt patterned ones (Fox & Geese in light gray and Amish Star in light blue) and 2 ink brushed notepads (a simple heart and "hello, sunshine"). I love writing over the pattered ones. To me, this is fun list making. (Total nerd.) But I also appreciate a clean white page - and for that, we've got the Heart Notepad, which makes any list or note more friendly and Hello, Sunshine, a phrase I say to Griffin almost every morning - and a nice little (sunny) phrase to have lying around.

fold the notepad paper in half & pair with envelope for a quick thank you note

Monday, January 7, 2013

I try to be good at writing thank you notes, but sometimes, my good intentions are derailed by my forgetfulness - like straight up forgetting (terrible) or finding an addressed envelope in my purse weeks later (more than once, sadly!) or where did I put those stamps? or did I write that person already? Not great.

But when it comes to Griffin's thank you notes, I try even harder. Christmas Eve with my family was such a rush of present-opening amongst the 8 young kids, that it was nearly impossible for gratitude to sink in. So, the thank you note writing for us seems all the more important for times like that. And even at 2 years old, Griffin knows that we're writing our thank you notes. Okay, so the only thing he knows is that he's sitting down & drawing circles and Mommy's talking to him & writing something. But, so far, it's been a time when we're able to pause & talk about the people we're writing to & what gifts we're thanking them for. Even if he only gets it for these short moments, I'm pretty determined to make this a habit for him. Of course for now, Mommy will still need to find the stamps & actually get the envelope out of her purse and into the mailbox :)